Xiao Mei
@JobstAs one of Xiao’s sister rats joined her, catching up unnaturally quick, they tracked Mother over the stony paths, under the rocky crags, and through dirty tunnels and crevices. Eventually, they found an overhang of rock jutting up from the ground, and in the shadows under this stony shelf they found a burrow. Entering this burrow took them down, then up again, and they now found themselves in an open chamber--or rather, a hollow gap under the ground. To the rats it was a chamber, but to the larger or taller creatures like Goblins it would have been a cramped hidey hole.
In this chamber, their mother crouched over what looked like a nest, but not a rat nest. A sort of pit had been scraped out of the earth, and in it a clutch of leathery looking eggs sat patiently. Mother had begun nibbling a hole in the shell of one of these eggs, but as her children entered she turned towards them with a surprised hiss. Her fur, so dark and black it almost seemed blue, rose upon her hackles until she recognized their scents--then she merely turned back to her meal.
Yet while she had been distracted with the appearance of her offspring, she had not noticed another returning mother.
The Fanged Lizard lunged out of the shadows of another tunnel on the opposite side of the chamber, snapping at Mother with those huge teeth. The Dire Rat squealed in pain as the lizard caught one of her legs in its jaws, but as she bit down with her own fangs the lizard thrashed its body and released. Mother limped backwards, but her body began to seize up from the lizard’s poison…
Asteria
@SilverPawAs Asteria joined her sister, they tracked Mother over the stony paths, under the rocky crags, and through dirty tunnels and crevices. Eventually, they found an overhang of rock jutting up from the ground, and in the shadows under this stony shelf they found a burrow. Entering this burrow took them down, then up again, and they now found themselves in an open chamber--or rather, a hollow gap under the ground. To the rats it was a chamber, but to the larger or taller creatures like Goblins it would have been a cramped hidey hole.
In this chamber, their mother crouched over what looked like a nest, but not a rat nest. A sort of pit had been scraped out of the earth, and in it a clutch of leathery looking eggs sat patiently. Mother had begun nibbling a hole in the shell of one of these eggs, but as her children entered she turned towards them with a surprised hiss. Her fur, so dark and black it almost seemed blue, rose upon her hackles until she recognized their scents--then she merely turned back to her meal.
Yet while she had been distracted with the appearance of her offspring, she had not noticed another returning mother.
The Fanged Lizard lunged out of the shadows of another tunnel on the opposite side of the chamber, snapping at Mother with those huge teeth. The Dire Rat squealed in pain as the lizard caught one of her legs in its jaws, but as she bit down with her own fangs the lizard thrashed its body and released. Mother limped backwards, but her body began to seize up from the lizard’s poison…
Orchid
@Lucius CypherAs Orchid and Ash moved along in search of prey, the taller goblin could see more of what flitted through the air above them. In the darkness of the cave--almost pitch black now with the falling of night, save for the flickering of Mana Crystals--there were always a few Wisps and Pixies floating about. But soon one of the latter, a pink skinned one with wings like a dragonfly, came close enough that Orchid might possibly be able to hit it if she threw something…
Then again, her companion might have need of her soon…
Danny
@DuthguyWhen Danny tried to stop the stick with his Lesser Force and failed, the sight caused the goblin below him to burst out laughing--which in turn caused him to miss the stick as it fell. The weapon came back down on its own user with a crack, drawing a yelp from the greenskin and leaving a bruise on his bald head. The other monster angrily grabbed the stick up from the ground and hurled it at Danny again--only to have it thrown back at him by the Wisp’s Mana Orb. This time the goblin took the hit on the other side of his head. His rump met the rough stone floor comically as he squealed once again.
Then, Danny did something unusual for a Wisp. As he dropped from the sky, simultaneously using his Mana Orb, he was trying to use the momentum from falling to increase the speed and damage from his last remaining spell. Given that Mana Orb was a projectile that didn’t make a lot of sense at first--but because he was falling at the same rate of speed as the spell would have been fired, something interesting happened.
The magical sparks raced along his body like electricity conducted along a sheet of metal. His physical strength and weight weren’t much, but he carried the charge of the spell along with him. This feeling, channeling Mana through his physical body rather than projecting it outward, was unusual...but not entirely unpleasant.
Just as the goblin was getting up, Danny struck it--once again, head on. The Goblin’s already wounded skull gave way with a meaty crunch, and it dropped to the ground! Danny too, however, hit the dirt immediately afterwards. The warning bells about low HP were still going off, and now he had no MP remaining either...and the Mana Crystals around him had either been used up or scattered--and to make matters worse, suddenly another voice rang out!
“Oi! Dat was my brudder, you dumb shiny thing!” A second goblin, this one holding what looked like a wooden pickaxe, came running up towards Danny--only to suddenly be startled by a loud sound of some kind. An instant afterward, a glowing rock pelted it in the belly, knocking the air out of the creature. Before it could regain its feet, more rocks began to viciously pelt it--one of them lodged itself in an eye socket, and the greeny weenie let out a shriek before it too, fell dead to the earth. Nearby, Danny would see a green Slime, with what looked like several objects floating inside it…
You are experiencing a fast rate of Skill Progression.
These bodies are carrying loot:
1 Curved Stick (unequippable)
1 Wooden Pickaxe (unequippable)
1 Vine Belt (unequippable)
1 Mana Crystal
1 Healing Herb
Ryuu
@CriticalHitRyuu was able to make his journey through the cave relatively unseen--it seemed like two of those young goblins weren’t going to be successful hunters after all, and the boss had been distracted by something. Maybe one of his allies had gotten a shot in? That female one still managed to go after the others--it might have been Ash, judging from the distinctive coloring. But no one came after Ryuu, and he managed to clear the scene without incident.
A short time later, he came to the timely assistance of a quite unlikely trio.
The glob of poison sailed through the air like a picture perfect slowmo baseball pitch, completely enveloping the Wisp. It screeched in agony as the acid sizzled all over it, then found out why that was a bad idea as the venom immediately coursed through its tiny body. Now soaked with poison and too heavy to hold up its own levitation without more MP, it hit the ground heavily. It twitched once, then went still as the poison’s lingering damage drained away the last of its HP.
Rain
@Old AmsterdamAfter helping Jason with his task, Rain departed on a hunt. She hadn’t eaten anything all day, so she would soon be feeling an intense pang of hunger along with general fatigue. But now, as she stalked the cave in search of prey, another message appeared.
Your use of stealth tactics has increased a skill!
Skill Rank Up: Muffle II
You are now even more effective at remaining unseen passively. Activating this skill by using Stamina will noticeably reduce, but not eliminate, the sounds of your movement.
And not long after that, she came across an unaware Dire Rat nibbling on some already-slain creature’s corpse...
Ash
@Rune_AlchemistAs Ash and Orchid searched for prey, during their conversation Ash received an interesting message from the system.
Your negotiations have earned a skill!
Skill Gain: Charisma I
Like other charismatic skills, your personality is almost a magical charm unto itself. You’ll have greater luck convincing others to go along with your suggestions, but only within their own natural reasoning. This skill may not work on those with stronger Wills.
As the Fanged Lizard crawled on the ground, she had a different perspective from her green companion. So it was easy for her to see the Dire Rat as it darted between rocks nearby, watching the pair in a way that suggested it, too, was on the hunt…
Asura
@KazemitsuAs Asura continued to doggedly practice his attacks, tiny paws pitter pattered imperceptibly upon the stones behind him. Beady red eyes blinked once, then powerful muscles underneath thick fur pushed off the ground.
The Dire Rat landed on Asura’s “head,” and began trying to rip chunks out of him with its teeth…!
Jason
@Guy0fV4lorYou are experiencing a fast rate of Skill Progression.
Your Inventory is full: 1 Poison Tainted Mana Crystal, 1 Mana Crystal, 8 Small Stones.
As Jason watched, the Wisp actually managed to somehow kill the first goblin attacking it--but then another joined the fray. Wanting to help, he charged in with an absolute onslaught. As he unleashed his Warcry, a “mouth” much like what Asura was fond of using opened up and he found himself unleashing a loud, echoing roar--though it had a phlegmy gargle to it. The Goblin turned towards him immediately with a look of absolute shock. After all, slimes couldn’t normally do such a thing…
An instant afterward, a glowing rock pelted the gobbo in the belly, knocking the air out of the creature. Before it could regain its feet, Jason began to viciously pelt it--one of the Stone Shots lodged itself in an eye socket, and the greeny weenie let out a shriek before it too, fell dead to the earth.
And then something REALLY interesting happened.
LEVEL UP!
Your experiences have culminated into new power. You have earned Skill Points to be distributed as you please.
Unspent Skill Points:
5
Current Skills:
Physical Damage Resistance I (1.0)
Warcry I (1.2)
Stone Shot I (1.7)
<UNUSABLE> Swift Swimmer (0.1) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Aqua Sphere (0.5) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Rock Spire (0.7) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Tremor Sense (0.5) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Alert (0.1) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Limited Shapeshift (0.3) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Smash (0.3) <UNUSABLE>
Digbie
@GardevoiranAs Digbie refocused his power in a new, never-before-tried way, he found that while he could create Tremors and project them with his MP, they weren’t strong enough to really make noise or move anything--if some other creature were sensitive to vibrations like he was he might have alerted them, but in his week and a day of life he hadn’t seen anyone else as capable with digging as he was. But maybe all it would take was some more practice, and some more oomph…
But as for where in the cave he could HIT to make a noise, he would find that the expanded crevice/tunnel entrance/hole in the wall where they had just fought the purple slime would probably produce excellent echoes if someone were to pound on the walls with a hard, heavy object...
Mourningstar
@floodtalonMourningstar’s Shield was used up as the Wisp’s Mana Orb crackled over it like dispersing flames, but she was left unharmed. As she moved up at the Wisp, the creature tittered in a shrill voice before it turned and started to flee--after all, if her own experiences were any indication, it would only have one Mana Orb left before it ran out of MP. But maybe if their group worked together, they could catch it.
Yes, run it down. Drag it to the earth, kicking and screaming. Kill it.
Or wait for a Fanged Lizard to gank it out of nowhere.
The glob of poison sailed through the air like a picture perfect slowmo baseball pitch, completely enveloping the Wisp. It screeched in agony as the acid sizzled all over it, then found out why that was a bad idea as the venom immediately coursed through its tiny body. Now too heavy to hold up its own levitation without more MP, it hit the ground heavily. It twitched once, then went still.
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